Emily searched the house frantically for the little girl on the end of the phone. She deliberately avoided the front room, the site of Anna Thompson lying cold on the floor was too much for her to handle while Sybella was alive and breathing on the other end of the phone. She had paused for a minute at the door, acknowledging the tragedy of the past few hours before pushing all thoughts of Anna from her mind, focusing on finding the little girl before she stumbled upon the scene herself.
Max's negotiations had been successful. The seasoned negotiator taking half the time it would have taken Emily to talk Jonathon away from his gun. HRT had entered, Jonathon had been apprehended and the after effect of the situation was beginning to set in on everyone around. When Emily had first accepted her job as a negotiator she had been fascinated by the reactions of everyone after a situation took place. There were the HRT guys, big strong men that took their moments of silence before heading back to training or the local pub. Then there were the higher ups, most of whom were experienced enough to push it all to the backs of their minds or mask their feelings behind a wall of professionalism, waiting till they reached home to unfold. The new guys and tech guys seemed to have a harder time dealing with things, but they had each other and by the end of the night were often seen matching HRT down by the pub for a few drinks and a laugh. When Emily had first arrived the person she had dreaded being the most was the one on the other end of the phone. Her work in Phoenix had brought her close to negotiations and she had even been adopted into the new guy crew down at the pub some nights. The person, she had noted, who rarely joined them was the negotiator themself. She still remembered her first negotiation. She had been successful, much to the delight of her partner and higher ups, and with that pride on her back she had soldiered through the rest of the day. It wasn't till she made it home and emptied her stomach by the sink that she felt the full impact of her job. She, alone, was responsible for the lives of so many. If she made one mistake it was the end, no more, nada. That thought had made her sick to the bones. Her boss had laughed the next day when she had asked for her old job back. Do you know how many new guys I've had ask that same question he had asked her? Your partner was one, look at him now. Emily didn't see much comfort in his words but never the less she gave it another shot, finding herself primary two days later.
She managed to empty only half her stomach that time.
"Sybella" she called, hoping the young child would here her "Sybella, sweetheart, its Emily" she tried again, straining her ears for any sign of the child.
"Emily" called her partner Max, coming up behind her "The boss wants to see us, something about paperwork on the case or avoiding it, I wasn't paying much attention" smiled the man. His childish grin often led people to believe he was much younger than he was, though his behaviour was also far from that of a thirty something year old and Emily could understand the mistake.
"I have to find Sybella first" replied Emily, rounding a corner to the kitchen.
"Sh" muttered Max "is the kid still in here?"
"Yeah" mumbled Emily "I was speaking to her while you were negotiating"
"You missed my finest hour" teased Max, probing for a smile from his oh-so-serious partner.
"Max" snapped Emily "I really have to find her"
"Well, how old is she then?" asked Max, snapping back to the fine negotiator who had talked Jonathon away from further action.
"About four" sighed Emily. She swivelled round on the spot, ignoring Max's complaints as she almost knocked him over "I don't even think she knows her mothers dead" she added. Her sad smile, halting the barrage of complaints Max was about to throw. He had known Emily long enough to understand not to tease her when she was serious. Her empathy towards victims had some what humbled him, though he would never admit it, nor would he admit how proud he was to work with such a person, especially when she had been negotiating for such a short time. He flashed a half smile in apology "we'll find her Em, after all, it's just a house"
"I just hope we find her before she finds her mother" muttered Emily.
Meanwhile, a young Sybella lay huddled up in her closet, clutching the now dead phone close to her ear, hoping to hear Emily on the other end soon.
She could hear people downstairs moving around, calling out to each other in voices she didn't recognise. They were loud voice, like the men that had come to her house the night before looking for her daddy. They had banged loudly on the door, waking her up suddenly. They had big boots on that made a loud noise on the floor boards, like giants from her bed time stories. They yelled loudly as well, but not in funny rhymes like the giants, these men wanted money. At first Sybella had hid under the covers, afraid that they would come find her in her room and gobble her up to make bread from her bones but her fear had been laid to rest when her mama entered. She had lay down with her in bed, smoothing her hair back and humming a fairy song she had learnt from her grandmother. Her sweet voice had lulled Sybella back to sleep softly. Instead of being scared she had dreamt Once upon a time of a Fairy kingdom where Giants where locked up by the fairy prince who came to save the princess and marry her and live happily ever after.
Now she had no magic song or magic dream and definitely no happily aver after. "Mama" she sobbed, hugging the phone closer to her chest "Mama, mama"
"Hey Emily" called Max "what do you reckon that she's in the pink kids room?" he wondered aloud, earning a smack from Emily as she ran past him through the door.
"Sybella" she called "Sweetheart, is that you?" she asked, hearing the soft sobs from inside the closet. She cracked it open a touch, trying not to startle the terrified child on the other side "Hunny, It's me, Emily" she soothed, crouching down to see the small girl bundled up on the floor. She was clutching the phone to her chest as if it where a matter of life and death. "Mama" she chocked through tears, throwing herself into the arms of the woman in front of her. Emily held onto her tight, stroking her mattered hair, as she whispered to her. Sybella was shaking uncontrollably, crying into Emily's shoulder profusely while mumbling mama over and over again. Emily's heart broke once again upon hearing this. Unable to summon the courage to correct Sybella, she opted for picking her up, out of the closet. The sooner they left the house and got her cleaned up the better in Emily's opinion. They would tackle the issue of her mother afterwards.
Max stood back in awe, watching the scene in front of him unfold without offering a word. He had no place there. He may have talked Jonathon away from killing him self, but Emily had taken the job of talking to the child on the inside. In his opinion she had had the hardest job that day. Experience had taught him talking to a hostage was far more emotional than a HT. He could only wonder what it was like talking to a child.
"Emily" he whispered hoarsely "we have to get her checked out." His gentle reminder sounded out of place among the silence, like an intrusion he thought grimly, though someone had to remind her.
"Okay" she nodded softly, soothing Sybella's crying to a gentle hiccup or sniffle every few seconds. The trio descended the stairs, Sybella still planted firmly on Emily's hip.
When they reached the bottom Emily stopped. To get to the front they had to pass the front room where Anna still laid, a bunch of young crime scene guys planted around the scene.
"Sybella, I need you to do me a favour" she whispered "I need you to promise me you won't look in the lounge room when we walk past it. Can you do that?" she asked.
"Why" was the small response "Did something bad happen there?" she asked in a whisper "I don't want to see something bad" she sniffed, tears forming around the rims of her dark eyes. "No sweetheart, nothing bad has happened" lied Emily, smoothing Sybella's hair down distractedly. "I just need you to promise me this" she prompted again "Okay?"
Sybella buried her small head into Emily's shoulder, nodding softly against the material of her shirt.
"What's that?" asked the small girl moments later, picking at the silver chain around Emily's neck "That's my angel" smiled Emily, picking up the small pendant to show Sybella. She gently unclipped the chain from the back of her neck, placing it instead over Sybella's small head "Will you look after it for me?" she asked, watching Sybella's fascination with the tiny silver angel. Sybella nodded silently in response, picking at the chain around her neck carefully. "She'll keep you safe" whispered Emily, placing a kiss to the top of Sybella's head before running into the mad world outside, past the lounge room, past the police cars and sirens out onto the street, praying that safety would finally come.
3 years later…….present time
Cheryl watched Sybella watch the two adults outside in wonderment. The child was picking at a small silver chain hanging around her neck; there was a small pendant on it of some sort though Cheryl could not see what it was. It added a stark contrast to the rest of Sybella's apparel. Her dark hair, in two loose ponytails, was tangled and coming out. Her singlet shirt and jeans where plain, most likely hand me downs but they suited her. She was undoubtedly not a child obsessed with what she looked like, rather one who spent a little too much time in the sun so that her face was dappled with soft freckles and who wasn't afraid of a challenge, she had enough band aids covering her knees and elbows to last her a lifetime. The only thing different was the chain around her neck. It wasn't a cheap hand me down either from the looks of it, though Cheryl would have to inspect it closer to find its value. It was most likely something of her mothers she decided, something of great importance to the child from the way she was gripping it. Something she would be very unwilling to let go.
Emily opened the door slowly, her gaze falling straight on the big eyed girl across the room. Sybella was watching her carefully, trying to find a sign as to what was happening or what she was doing. "Come here" mouthed Emily, smiling brightly as she opened her arms for Sybella who wasted no time in running straight towards her, landing in her arms at full force.
Emily caught her naturally, picking her up for a proper bear hug.
"You ready to come home" whispered Emily.
"As long as I don't have to leave" replied Sybella, her already soft voice muffled by Emily's shoulder.
Emily looked up, over at Matt who stood by the door way. He was watching both Emily and Sybella carefully, noticing for the first time how natural she was with children. He smiled softly at the thought. Somewhere along the line he had to accept the fact that they would be looking after a young girl from now on. The idea of children had scared him for a long time. Something, whether it be past experience or lack of practise had always told him that he was not right for the job.
Now, the thing that scared him the most was that he wasn't worried about it at all.